Providence mayor vetoes plastic bag ban

Monday

Mar 26, 2018 at 12:01 AMMar 26, 2018 at 8:08 PM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Mayor Jorge Elorza has vetoed an ordinance passed by the City Council that would have banned single-use plastic bags and required retailers to charge a fee for other types of bags, saying that more community engagement is needed before moving forward.

“The process left certain voices out of the conversation,” Elorza said in his veto letter. “They are the neighborhoods that are most burdened by plastic pollution and the community members that are least able to afford more expensive alternatives.”

He continued, “There is no harm done in taking our time to do this right, but we do risk harm if we exclude or ignore these communities and their concerns in this process.”

ALSO: Middletown to ban plastic bags starting in November

Elorza expressed support for the City Council’s efforts to ban plastic bags and hope that a new policy can be agreed upon.

“Once that is done, I look forward to signing this into law,” he wrote.

Elorza initially supported the ordinance, brought forward by Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan, writing that the bags “are a hazard to human health and our environment,” in a letter of support.

But following communication with city’s Racial and Environmental Justice Committee, which opposed the measure, the mayor switched his position, calling for more time and public discourse.

The City Council overwhelmingly approved the ban in two meetings over the course of this month, following the lead of seven other Rhode Island communities that have prohibited the use of thin-film plastic bags.

But the Providence ordinance proposal went a step further by enacting a fee of at least 10 cents on replacement paper bags or more durable multi-use plastic bags.

Although there was no opposition at the first reading of the ordinance in March, there was more pushback at the March 15 meeting. Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris expressed concern about the effect the ban might have on low-income families.

She was joined by Councilwomen Nirva LaFortune and Carmen Castillo, who said they heard from many constituents who worried that the 10-cent fees would add up quickly and burden them disproportionately.

Those concerns were communicated by the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee, a group that advises the city on sustainability issues, in a March 14 letter to the City Council. The group asked for an extension of the approval process until April 14 in order to assess alternatives to the ordinance and seek more stakeholder input.

“Plastic bags are bad, but introducing legislation that negatively impacts poor people is not a solution,” the committee wrote.

ALSO IN NEWPORT: It’s official: Plastic bags banned in Newport

The Rhode Island Chapter of the Sierra Club supported the committee’s request.

“It is not a victory when the solution to an environmental issue also disproportionately impacts the same communities that have been historically most impacted by environmental injustice,” Aaron Jaehnig, chairman of the chapter wrote after the council passed the ordinance.

An industry group, the American Progressive Bag Alliance, also raised objections to the ban. In a letter to City Solicitor Jeffrey Dana on March 20, the group’s law firm argued that the ban would violate the Rhode Island Constitution by regulating an issue beyond “truly local concern.”

“We respectfully suggest that the City, through its Council Members, reconsider this ill-advised ordinance and thus spare the City and its attorneys from the effort and expense of potential litigation that would inevitably end with the ordinance being struck down,” the firm wrote.

Barrington was the first municipality in Rhode Island to enact a ban in 2013. Newport approved an ordinance in March 2017, followed by Middletown in May.

Jamestown, Block Island, Portsmouth and Bristol passed their own ordinances, but the bans are not yet in effect.

Legislation is under consideration in the General Assembly that would enact a statewide ban and a fee on alternative bags

The Providence ordinance was modeled after a regulation that won passage in Boston in November and will take effect in the fall. The Boston ordinance will levy a 5-cent fee on replacement bags.

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